Prediction-based non-terrestrial network satellite beam configuration and switching

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for prediction-based non-terrestrial network beam configuration and switching are provided. A base station determines a bandwidth part configuration for a user equipment, which includes a plurality of bandwidth parts respectively corresponding to a plurality of geographic areas. The base station configures the user equipment with the bandwidth part configuration and determines a position or movement of the user equipment in a first geographic area corresponding to a first bandwidth part. The base station determines, based on the position or movement, whether a criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met. In response to determining that the criterion is met, the base station reconfigures the bandwidth part configuration of the user equipment while the user equipment is positioned in the first geographic area. The reconfiguration includes modifying the plurality of bandwidth parts to include a second bandwidth part corresponding to a second geographic area.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

This application is directed to prediction-based non-terrestrial networkbeam configuration and switching and, in particular, reconfiguration ofsatellite beams and bandwidth parts of a user equipment based onpredicting a repositioning of a user equipment to a different geographicarea.

Description of the Related Art

Non-terrestrial communication networks are characterized by using anEarth-orbiting satellite as a base station that communicates with anearthbound user equipment. In non-terrestrial communication networks, aswell as other communication networks, time and frequency resources thatare available for use in uplink and downlink channels are limited. Dueto the need for ever-increasing communication data rates, it isparticularly important to utilize the diversity gain to meet data ratedemands.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a non-terrestrial network entity includes a controllerconfigured to determine a bandwidth part configuration for a userequipment, where the bandwidth part configuration includes a pluralityof bandwidth parts respectively corresponding to a plurality ofgeographic areas. In an embodiment, the controller causes the userequipment to be configured with the bandwidth part configuration anddetermines a position or movement of the user equipment in a firstgeographic area of the plurality of geographic areas, where the firstgeographic area corresponds to a first bandwidth part of the pluralityof bandwidth parts. In an embodiment, the controller determines, basedon the position or movement of the user equipment in the firstgeographic area, whether at least one criterion for reconfiguring thebandwidth part configuration is met and in response to determining thatthe at least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met, reconfigures the bandwidth part configuration ofthe user equipment while the user equipment is positioned in the firstgeographic area. In an embodiment, reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration of the user equipment includes modifying the plurality ofbandwidth parts to include a second bandwidth part corresponding to asecond geographic area. In an embodiment, the non-terrestrial networkentity includes a transmitter configured to transmit the bandwidth partconfiguration and the reconfiguration of the bandwidth partconfiguration to the user equipment.

In an embodiment, the non-terrestrial network entity determines whetherthe at least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met by determining whether a first distance from theposition of the user equipment in the first geographic area to aboundary of the second geographic area is less than a first thresholdand determining that the at least one criterion for reconfiguring thebandwidth part configuration is met in response to determining that thefirst distance from the position of the user equipment in the firstgeographic area to the boundary of the second geographic area is lessthan the first threshold.

In an embodiment, the non-terrestrial network entity determines whetherthe at least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met by determining whether a second distance from theposition of the user equipment in the first geographic area to aboundary of the first geographic area is less than a second thresholdand determining that the at least one criterion for reconfiguring thebandwidth part configuration is met in response to determining that thesecond distance from the position of the user equipment in the firstgeographic area to the boundary of the first geographic area is lessthan the second threshold.

In an embodiment, the first and second geographic areas are adjacent. Inan embodiment, the controller is configured to reconfigure the bandwidthpart configuration of the user equipment while the user equipment ispositioned in the first geographic area using radio resource control(RRC) signaling. In an embodiment, the controller is configured todetermine to switch an active bandwidth part of the user equipment fromthe first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part and send a commandto the user equipment to switch the active bandwidth part using downlinkcontrol information (DCI). In an embodiment, the controller isconfigured to reconfigure the bandwidth part configuration of the userequipment by at least modifying the plurality of bandwidth parts toremove a third bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts.

In an embodiment, the controller is configured to determine to removethe third bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts by at leastdetermining that, of the plurality of geographic areas included in thebandwidth part configuration, the position of the user equipment isfarthest from a boundary of a third geographic area corresponding to thethird bandwidth part. In an embodiment, the controller is configured todetermine to remove the third bandwidth part of the plurality ofbandwidth parts by at least determining that, of the plurality ofgeographic areas included in the bandwidth part configuration, the userequipment spends a least amount of time, sends a least amount of uplinkdata or receives a least amount of downlink data in a third geographicarea corresponding to the third bandwidth part.

In an embodiment, a method includes determining a bandwidth partconfiguration for a user equipment, where the bandwidth partconfiguration includes a plurality of bandwidth parts respectivelycorresponding to a plurality of geographic areas. In an embodiment, themethod includes configuring the user equipment with the bandwidth partconfiguration and determining a position or movement of the userequipment in a first geographic area of the plurality of geographicareas, where the first geographic area corresponds to a first bandwidthpart of the plurality of bandwidth parts. In an embodiment, the methodincludes determining, based on the position or movement of the userequipment in the first geographic area, whether at least one criterionfor reconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met and inresponse to determining that the at least one criterion forreconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met, reconfiguring thebandwidth part configuration of the user equipment while the userequipment is positioned in the first geographic area. In an embodiment,reconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration of the user equipmentincludes modifying the plurality of bandwidth parts to include a secondbandwidth part corresponding to a second geographic area.

In an embodiment, determining whether the at least one criterion forreconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met includesdetermining whether a first distance from the position of the userequipment in the first geographic area to a boundary of the secondgeographic area is less than a first threshold and determining that theat least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met in response to determining that the first distancefrom the position of the user equipment in the first geographic area tothe boundary of the second geographic area is less than the firstthreshold.

In an embodiment, determining whether the at least one criterion forreconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met includesdetermining whether a second distance from the position of the userequipment in the first geographic area to a boundary of the firstgeographic area is less than a second threshold and determining that theat least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met in response to determining that the second distancefrom the position of the user equipment in the first geographic area tothe boundary of the first geographic area is less than the secondthreshold.

In an embodiment, the first and second geographic areas are adjacent. Inan embodiment, the method includes reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration of the user equipment while the user equipment ispositioned in the first geographic area using radio resource control(RRC) signaling. In an embodiment, the method includes determining toswitch an active bandwidth part of the user equipment from the firstbandwidth part to the second bandwidth part and sending a command to theuser equipment to switch the active bandwidth part using downlinkcontrol information (DCI). In an embodiment, reconfiguring the bandwidthpart configuration of the user equipment includes at least modifying theplurality of bandwidth parts to remove a third bandwidth part of theplurality of bandwidth parts.

In an embodiment, determining to remove the third bandwidth part of theplurality of bandwidth parts includes at least determining that, of theplurality of geographic areas included in the bandwidth partconfiguration, the position of the user equipment is farthest from aboundary of a third geographic area corresponding to the third bandwidthpart. In an embodiment, determining to remove the third bandwidth partof the plurality of bandwidth parts includes at least determining that,of the plurality of geographic areas included in the bandwidth partconfiguration, the user equipment spends a least amount of time, sends aleast amount of uplink data or receives a least amount of downlink datain a third geographic area corresponding to the third bandwidth part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of frequency reuse for a satellite in anon-terrestrial network.

FIG. 2 shows an example of dividing a channel bandwidth of the satelliteinto a plurality of bandwidth parts.

FIG. 3 shows an example of user equipment active bandwidth partswitching.

FIG. 4 shows an example of user equipment active bandwidth partswitching.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a satellite and user equipment.

FIG. 6 shows a method for beam switching in a non-terrestrial network.

FIG. 7 shows the user equipment at an edge of a geographic areaassociated with a bandwidth part.

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram of a method for prediction-basedreconfiguration of a bandwidth part configuration of the user equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an example of frequency reuse for a satellite 100 in anon-terrestrial network. If the satellite 100 is a regenerativesatellite, the satellite 100 may be a base station (denoted as ‘NodeB’or in a 5G network as ‘gNB’) in a non-terrestrial network (NTN). If thesatellite 100 is a bent-pipe satellite (also known as a transparentsatellite), the base station may be located elsewhere in thenon-terrestrial network and the satellite 100 may act as a relay for thebase station. For example, the base station may be earthbound and on theground.

The satellite has a coverage area 102 that is divided into a pluralityof geographic areas, whereby each geographic area may be smaller thanthe coverage area 102. Spatial separation and frequency reuse areemployed in the non-terrestrial network to reduce inter-beaminterference and increase network capacity. Per the frequency reuse, aset of geographic areas 104 a-d of the plurality of geographic areas areeach assigned a respective bandwidth part (BWP) or frequency. Userequipment 101, which may be a satellite television receiver or acellular device, among others, is shown to be disposed in a firstgeographic area 104 a. The user equipment 101 communicates with thesatellite 100 using a bandwidth part or frequency that is assigned tothe geographic area 104 a. It is noted that the assignment of bandwidthpart or frequency for uplink and downlink communication of the userequipment 101 may be independent of each other.

FIG. 2 shows an example of dividing a channel bandwidth 106 of thesatellite 100 into a plurality of bandwidth parts 108 a-d. The pluralityof bandwidth parts 108 a-d includes first, second, third and fourthbandwidth parts 108 a-d (denoted as “BWP₁”, “BWP₂”, “BWP₃”, “BWP₄,”respectively). The plurality of bandwidth parts 108 a-d may beoverlapping or non-overlapping in the channel bandwidth 106. The channelbandwidth 106 of the satellite 100 is divided into a plurality ofsubchannels.

As shown in FIG. 1 , first, second, third and fourth geographic areas104 a, 104 b, 104 c, 104 d of the set of geographic areas 104 a-d arerespectively assigned first, second, third and fourth bandwidth parts108 a-d. The bandwidth parts 108 a-d are also referred to hereininterchangeably as being frequencies (BWP₁/f₁, BWP₂/f₂, BWP₃/f₃,BWP₄/f₄). Frequency reuse is employed such that neighboring geographicareas also use the bandwidth parts 108 a-d. For example, a set of fourother neighboring geographic areas of the plurality of geographic areasmay respectively use the plurality of bandwidth parts 108 a-d .

Thus, the coverage area 102 of the satellite 100 is divided intogeographic areas that are spatially separated. The geographic areas areassigned independent bandwidth parts 108 a-d depending on a reuse factor(denoted as ‘K’). Four geographical areas 104 a-d are illustrated inFIG. 1 thereby making the frequency reuse factor for the environmentfour (K=4). Although four geographical areas 104 a-d are illustrated, itis noted that any other reuse factor may be used. Thus, satellitecommunication in a geographic area may use the same frequency as anotherarea and the coverage area 102 provided that the geographic areas arespatially separated (for example, non-neighboring) or sufficientlydistanced apart.

The user equipment 101 may be configured to communicate over any numberof bandwidth parts. For example, the user equipment 101 may beconfigured to communicate over four uplink bandwidth parts and fourdownlink bandwidth parts, among other types of configurations. The userequipment 101 may have one active uplink bandwidth part and one activedownlink bandwidth part at any one time instance. An active bandwidthpart is the bandwidth part (of the bandwidth parts with which the userequipment 101 is configured) that the user equipment 101 may presentlyuse to communicate with the non-terrestrial network via the satellite100 (for example, depending on the geographic area 104 in which the userequipment 101 is disposed). The remaining bandwidth parts with which theuser equipment 101 is configured may be inactive for the user equipment101 and may not be used by the user equipment 101 to communicate,through satellite 100, with the non-terrestrial network.

The user equipment 101 may switch from one active bandwidth part toanother, for example, as a result of movement or relocation of the userequipment 101 from one geographic area 104 to another geographic area104. That is, depending on the bandwidth parts used in the geographicarea 104 in which the user equipment 101 is disposed, the user equipment101 may use, as an active bandwidth part, any one of the plurality ofbandwidth parts 108 a-d. In addition to relocation, the user equipment101 may change its active bandwidth part due at least in part tobandwidth part reassignment of the geographic area 104 in which the userequipment 101 is disposed.

The non-terrestrial network or an entity thereof, such as the basestation, may command the user equipment 101, through satellite 100, tochange its active bandwidth part by radio resource control (RRC)signaling or level 1 downlink control information (L1 DCI), amongothers. RRC signaling may be slower than DCI signaling. Further, uplinkand downlink bandwidth parts of the user equipment 101 may be switchedindependently of each other or depending on one another.

FIG. 3 shows an example of user equipment 101 active bandwidth partswitching. In FIG. 3 , the reuse factor of the satellite 100 is the sameas the number of bandwidth parts in the user equipment 101 bandwidthpart configuration. Both the reuse factor of the satellite 100 and thenumber of configured bandwidth parts of the user equipment 101 are four.Depending on the geographic area 104, the satellite 100 (whether actingas a base station (or NodeB) or a relay for the base station) utilizesone of a plurality of bandwidth parts 108 a-d for communicating withuser equipment 101 in the geographic area 104. The user equipment 101 isconfigured to communicate over the plurality of bandwidth parts 108 a-d,whereby at any one point one of the bandwidth parts 108 is active.

The user equipment 101 is initially positioned in the first geographicarea 104 a, whereby the active bandwidth part of the user equipment isthe first bandwidth part 108 a. The user equipment 101 then moves to thethird geographic area 104 c. The third geographic area 104 c is servedby the third bandwidth part 108 c. As a result of the relocation, theuser equipment 101 switches its active bandwidth part from the firstbandwidth part 108 a to the third bandwidth part 108 c. The firstbandwidth part 108 a becomes inactive. A non-terrestrial network entityor the satellite 100 may transmit RRC signaling or a DCI to a userequipment 101 commanding the user equipment to switch its activebandwidth part.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 4 , the bandwidth parts with whichthe user equipment 101 is configured are identical to the bandwidthparts used by the satellite 100. Accordingly, the user equipment 101,when moving between geographic areas 104, switches between configuredbandwidth parts. Reconfiguration of the bandwidth parts of the userequipment 101 is thereby not needed.

However, as described herein, when the user equipment 101 is configuredwith the bandwidth parts are different than the bandwidth parts of thesatellite 100, the bandwidth parts of the user equipment 101 may bereconfigured when the user equipment 101 switches between bandwidthparts.

FIG. 4 shows an example of user equipment 101 active bandwidth partswitching. The frequency reuse factor of the satellite 100 is differentfrom the number of bandwidth parts in the user equipment 101 bandwidthpart configuration. The frequency reuse factor of the satellite 100 issix, whereas the number of configured bandwidth parts of the userequipment 101 is four. The channel bandwidth 106 of the satellite 100into six bandwidth parts 108 a-f that are respectively assigned to sixgeographic areas 104 a-f.

Initially, the user equipment 101 is configured with the first, second,third and fourth bandwidth parts 108 a-d and is located in the thirdgeographic area 104 c. The active bandwidth part of the user equipment101 is the third bandwidth part 108 c. The user equipment 101 moves fromthe third geographic area 104 c to the fifth geographic area 104 e. Thefifth geographic area 104 e is served by the fifth bandwidth part 108 e,which is not within the user equipment bandwidth part configuration.

The non-terrestrial network, through the satellite 100, changes the userequipment bandwidth part configuration. The satellite 100 may at leastadd the fifth bandwidth part 108 e to the user equipment bandwidth partconfiguration and correspondingly remove one other bandwidth part fromthe configuration to keep the number of bandwidth parts in theconfiguration constant. A non-terrestrial network entity or thesatellite 100, may transmit RRC signaling to the user equipment toconfigure the bandwidth parts of the user equipment 101.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the non-terrestrial network, through the satellite100, changes the bandwidth part configuration of the user equipment(from the first, second, third and fourth bandwidth parts 108 a-d) tothe first, third, fifth and sixth bandwidth parts 108 a, 108 c, 108 e,108 f Now that the new bandwidth part configuration of the userequipment 101 includes the fifth bandwidth part 108 e, the userequipment 101 may use the fifth bandwidth part 108 e as the activebandwidth part in the fifth geographic area 104 e. The user equipment101 may switch to the fifth bandwidth part 108 e as the active bandwidthpart in response to receiving RRC signaling or a DCI from anon-terrestrial network entity or the satellite 100 as described herein.

The bandwidth part of the user equipment 101 may be configured orreconfigured based on user equipment 101 movement history or aprediction algorithm, among others. For example, it may be desirable forthe bandwidth part configuration of the user equipment 101 to beoptimally selected in order to minimize RRC signaling. For example, thesatellite 100 or another non-terrestrial network entity may trackmovement of the user equipment 101 and may obtain, based on thetracking, a list of geographic areas 104 frequently visited by the userequipment 101. The satellite 100 or another non-terrestrial networkentity may configure the user equipment bandwidth part configuration toinclude the bandwidth parts 108 of the most frequently visitedgeographic areas 104. If that the most frequently visited geographicareas 104 do not include the geographic area to which the user equipmentmoved, the bandwidth part configuration may be revised to include thebandwidth part 108 of the geographic area 104 to which the userequipment moved (for example, by swapping the bandwidth part 108 of thegeographic area 104 with another on the list of most frequently visitedgeographic areas 104).

In an embodiment where the bandwidth part configuration of the userequipment 101 includes four (or a maximum of four) bandwidth parts 108,the bandwidth parts 108 of the four most frequently visited geographicareas 104 may be included in the configuration. If that the bandwidthpart 108 of the geographic area 104 to which the user equipment 101moved is not among the bandwidth parts 108 of the four most frequentlyvisited geographic areas 104, the bandwidth part 108 of the fourth mostfrequently visited geographic areas 104 may be removed from theconfiguration and replaced with the bandwidth part 108 of the geographicarea 104 to which the user equipment 101 moved.

Setting the user equipment bandwidth part configuration may be based onprediction of user equipment 101 movement. For example, if the movementof the user equipment 101 indicates forthcoming transition to one ormore different geographic areas 104, the satellite 100 or anothernon-terrestrial network entity may configure the user equipmentbandwidth part configuration to include the bandwidth parts 108 of theone or more different geographic areas 104. Predicting the userequipment 101 movement may be based on past or historical movement ofthe user equipment or other user equipment served by the satellite 100or another non-terrestrial network entity. Accordingly, thereconfiguration of the user equipment 101 bandwidth part configurationmay be minimized.

A satellite cluster may be defined as a set of satellite beams, wherenone of the beams use the same frequency. The set of satellite beams ina cluster may be f₁, f₂, . . . , f_(K) (K is the frequency reusefactor). The union of the set of satellite beams in the cluster maycover the entire system channel bandwidth.

As described herein, each satellite beam corresponds to a bandwidth part108 and may be covered by bandwidth part 108. Accordingly, the resourcesof the satellite beams of the cluster may not overlap in frequencybecause they independently correspond to different bandwidth parts 108of the system channel bandwidth 106. The time and frequency resources ofsatellite beams of a cluster may overlap and are, thus, not orthogonalin the time and frequency domains. However, the satellite beams of thecluster are orthogonal in the space domain. Different clusters are alsospatially orthogonal with one another but are not orthogonal in the timeand frequency domains.

Each cluster may have a unique identifier. The number of satelliteclusters (L) may depend on the channel frequency. For example, if thechannel frequency is less than or equal to three GigaHertz (GHz), thenumber of satellite clusters may be 4. If the channel frequency isgreater than three GHz but less than or equal to 7.125 GHz, the numberof satellite clusters may be eight and if the frequency is greater than7.125 GHz, then the number of satellite clusters may be L=64.

In an embodiment, a satellite 100 may cover a large geographic region,such as the contiguous United States. The satellite 100 may havemultiple clusters (L) necessary to cover the geographic region, whereeach cluster covers K geographic areas 104. Alternatively, more than onesatellite 100 may cover a large geographic region, such as thecontiguous United States. Satellite-to-satellite handover may beperformed.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a satellite 100 and user equipment 101. Asdescribed herein, the satellite 100 may be a base station. The userequipment 101 transmits in the uplink and receives in the downlink. Thesatellite 100 receives in the uplink and transmits in the downlink. Theuser equipment 101 and the satellite 100 respectively include one ormore antennas 120 a, 120 b for receiving signals, which may beelectromagnetic signals.

The user equipment 101 and the satellite 100 respectively include atransmitter 122 a, 122 b. The transmitter 122 a, 122 b may be any typeof device configured to transmit a signal by controlling the one or moreantennas 120 a, 120 b, respectively. The user equipment 101 and thesatellite 100 respectively include a receiver 124 a, 124 b, which may beany type of device configured to transmit a signal by controlling theone or more antennas 120 a, 120 b, respectively. The user equipment 101and the satellite 100 or another non-terrestrial network entityrespectively include memory 126 a, 126 b. The memory 126 a, 126 b may beany type of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The memory126 a, 126 b may be read-only memory (ROM) or random access memory(RAM), among others. Further, the memory 126 a, 126 b may be static ordynamic. The memory 126 a, 126 b stores the computer-executableinstructions that may be retrieved or accessed by a respective processor128 a, 128 b for execution. The computer-executable instructions, whenexecuted by the respective processor 128 a, 128 b, cause the respectiveprocessor 128 a, 128 b (or user equipment 101 satellite 100) to operateas described herein.

The user equipment 101 and the satellite 100 or another non-terrestrialnetwork entity include the processor 128 a, 128 b, respectively. Theprocessor 128 a, 128 b is configured to perform the techniques andmethods described herein. The transmitter 122 a, 122 b, the memory 126a, 126 b, the receiver 124 a, 124 b, the processor 128 a, 128 b and theone or more antennas 120 a, 120 b within the user equipment 101 or thesatellite 100 may be configured to mutually interact with one another.The transmitter 122 a, receiver 124 a, memory 126 a and processor 128 aof the user equipment 101 may respectively be implemented by a separatechip as independent elements, or may be implemented by two or morechips. The transmitter 122 a, 122 b and the receiver 124 a, 124 b may beincorporated into one device, whereby one transceiver may be implementedwithin the user equipment 101 or the satellite 100 or anothernon-terrestrial network entity. The one or more antennas 120 a, 120 bconfigured to wirelessly transmit a signal generated by the transmitter122 a, 122 b to an external environment, or receive a radio signal fromthe external environment and transfer the received radio signal to thereceiver 124 a, 124 b. Transmission and reception devices that supportmulti-input multi-output (MIMO) communication for data transmission andreception based on multiple antennas may be used.

The processor 128 a, 128 b generally controls the overall operation ofthe user equipment 101 or the satellite 100. In particular, theprocessor 128 a, 128 b may perform various control functions forperforming the techniques described herein, a variable Medium AccessControl (MAC) frame control function based on service characteristicsand a propagation environment, a power saving mode for controlling anidle mode operation, a handover (HO) function, an authentication andencryption function, and the like. The processor 128 a, 128 b may be acontroller, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or a microcomputer. Theprocessor 128 a, 128 b may be implemented by hardware, firmware,software, or their combination. An application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signalprocessing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), and fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), which are configured to perform thetechniques described herein, may be provided in the processor 128 a, 128b.

The transmitter 122 a, 122 b may perform coding and modulation of data,which are scheduled from the processor 128 a, 128 b or a schedulercoupled to the processor 128 a, 128 b. For example, the transmitter 122a, 122 b may convert data streams intended for transmission into signalstreams through de-multiplexing, channel coding, modulation, and thelike. The signal streams are transmitted through a transmittingprocessor within the transmitter and the transmitting antenna 120 a, 120b in due order. The transmitter 122 a, 122 b and the receiver 124 a, 124b of the user equipment 101 and the satellite 100 may be configureddifferently depending on a processing procedure of transmitting andreceiving signals.

It is noted that when the satellite 100 is a regenerative satellite, thesatellite 100 may include the memory 126 b and the processor 128 b.Conversely, if the satellite 100 is a bent-pipe satellite that acts as arelay for another non-terrestrial network entity, such a base station,the satellite 100 may not include the memory 126 b or the processor 128b. As a bent-pipe satellite (transparent satellite), the satellite 100may include an amplifier, filter, frequency converter and transmitterand may not include memory or processing functionality.

A regenerative satellite may configure the user equipment 101 with theuser equipment bandwidth part configuration and switch the activebandwidth part of the user equipment 101. Conversely, a transparentsatellite may act as a relay for a base station in another part of thenon-terrestrial network, whereby the base station controls bandwidthpart configuration and switching of the user equipment 101.

The satellite 100 or another network entity may determine a position (orgeographic physical location) of the user equipment 101. The othernetwork entity may be a satellite gateway, high altitude platformstation as International Mobile Telecommunications base station (HIBS),5G core network or mixed access network, such as a 3GPP NTN mixed accessnetwork, among others. Determining the position may be performed basedon any localization technique. For example, the user equipment 101 mayinclude global positioning system (GPS) capability and may, accordingly,communicate with Earth-orbiting GPS satellites for identifying theposition of the user equipment 101 via triangulation. The user equipment101 may include GPS circuitry having a GPS transceiver via which theuser equipment 101 communicates with the Earth-orbiting GPS satellites.The user equipment 101 or an Earth-orbiting GPS satellite may determinethe position of the user equipment 101 on Earth.

In addition or alternatively, the user equipment 101 or another networkentity may determine the position of the user equipment 101 using Wi-Fipositioning. It is noted that a non-terrestrial network may rely on GPSpositioning due to the fact that the non-terrestrial network providesoutdoor coverage, where GPS allows for positioning. However, Wi-Fipositioning utilizes Wi-Fi hotspots and/or access points (APs) todetermine the location of the user equipment 101. Additionally oralternatively, the user equipment 101 or the other network entity maydetermine the position of the user equipment 101 using an AssistedGlobal Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS).

The user equipment 101 may determine its own position and send theposition to the satellite 100 or the other network entity. The satellite100 or the other network entity may configure/reconfigure the userequipment bandwidth part configuration of the user equipment 101 basedon the position.

FIG. 6 shows a method 600 for beam switching in a non-terrestrialnetwork. The method 600 includes dividing, at 602, a channel bandwidthof a non-terrestrial network base station into a plurality of bandwidthparts respectively corresponding to a plurality of geographic areas.Each bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth parts may berespectively associated with a satellite beam of a plurality ofsatellite beams. At 604, the non-terrestrial network base stationconfigures the user equipment with a bandwidth part configurationspecifying a plurality of user equipment-configured bandwidth parts.When the user equipment is located in the first geographic area of theplurality of geographic areas, the plurality of userequipment-configured bandwidth parts include the first bandwidth part asan active bandwidth part and remaining bandwidth parts of the pluralityof user equipment-configured bandwidth parts are inactive bandwidthparts.

At 606, the non-terrestrial network base station transmits downlink datato a user equipment over a corresponding first bandwidth part, of theplurality of bandwidth parts, when the user equipment is located in afirst geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas. At 608, thenon-terrestrial network base station reconfigures the bandwidth partconfiguration of the user equipment to include the second bandwidth partif prior to the user equipment transitioning from the first geographicarea to the second geographic area, the plurality of userequipment-configured bandwidth parts do not include the second bandwidthpart as the active bandwidth part or as an inactive bandwidth part.

At 610, the non-terrestrial network base station reconfigures the activebandwidth part from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidthpart after the user equipment transitions from the first geographic areato the second geographic area. At 612, the non-terrestrial network basestation, after the user equipment transitions from the first geographicarea of the plurality of geographic areas to a second geographic area ofthe plurality of geographic areas, transmits downlink data to the userequipment over a corresponding second bandwidth part of the plurality ofbandwidth parts. After the user equipment transitions from the firstgeographic area to the second geographic area, the plurality of userequipment-configured bandwidth parts include the second bandwidth partas the active bandwidth part and remaining bandwidth parts of theplurality of user equipment-configured bandwidth parts are inactivebandwidth parts.

When the number of bandwidth parts (denoted ‘N’) in the user equipmentbandwidth part configuration is the same as or greater than thefrequency reuse factor (K), the user equipment bandwidth partconfiguration generally includes the bandwidth parts that couldpotentially be used by the user equipment 101. For example, the numberof bandwidth parts (N) may be up to four (one, two, three or four).Thus, reconfiguration of the user equipment bandwidth part configurationto add bandwidth parts that may potentially be used by the userequipment 101 may not be performed.

However, when N<K, the user equipment bandwidth part configuration doesnot include all bandwidth parts that could potentially be used by theuser equipment 101. Accordingly, the satellite 100 or another entity mayreconfigure the user equipment bandwidth part configuration to addbandwidth parts that may potentially be used by the user equipment 101or that are likely to be used by the user equipment 101. Furthermore,the satellite 100 or the other entity may remove, from the userequipment bandwidth part configuration, bandwidth parts that are lesslikely to be used by the user equipment 101. The configuration orreconfiguration of the user equipment bandwidth part configuration maybe performed based on a position (physical location) of the userequipment 101.

FIG. 7 shows the user equipment 101 at an edge of a geographic areaassociated with a bandwidth part. Similar elements of FIG. 7 as thosedescribed with reference to FIG. 4 have the same reference numerals. Theuser equipment 101 is at an edge of the third geographic area 104 cassociated with the third bandwidth part 108 c. The user equipment 101is in a proximity of the fifth geographic area 104 e associated with thefifth bandwidth part 108 e. The user equipment 101 uses the thirdbandwidth part 108 c to communicate in the uplink or downlink when theuser equipment 101 is at the edge of the third geographic area 104 c.The bandwidth part configuration of the user equipment 101 includes thefirst, second, third and fourth bandwidth parts 108 a-d but does notinclude the fifth bandwidth part 108 e.

The satellite 100 may receive or determine a position of the userequipment 101. The satellite 100 may have information indicating thegeographic boundaries of the geographic areas 104. For example, thesatellite 100 may store the information in the memory 126 b. Thesatellite 100 may determine a first distance between the position of theuser equipment 101 and the geographic boundary of the third geographicarea 104 c in which the user equipment 101 is located. The satellite 100may determine a second distance between the position of the userequipment 101 and the geographic boundary of a geographic area in aproximity of the third geographic area 104 c. The geographic area in theproximity of the third geographic area 104 c may be an adjacentgeographic area or a surrounding geographic area. The second distancemay be determined for multiple geographic boundaries in the proximity ofthe third geographic area 104 c in which the user equipment 101 islocated. For example, multiple second distances may be determined forthe first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh geographic areas 104a, 104 b, 104 d, 104 e, 104 f, 104 g. Because the boundary of ageographic area is a line, the second distance may be a minimum distanceor a distance from the user equipment 101 to a nearest point of theboundary of the geographic area.

The satellite 100 may determine whether one or more criteria forreconfiguring the user equipment bandwidth part configuration are met.For a first criterion, the satellite 100 may compare the first distanceto a first threshold 130 to determine whether the first distance is lessthan the first threshold 130. To determine whether a second criterion ismet, the satellite 100 may compare the second distance to a secondthreshold 132 and determine whether the second distance is less than thesecond threshold 132. For the purposes of reconfiguring the userequipment bandwidth part configuration, the satellite 100 may determinewhether the second criterion is met only for geographic areascorresponding to bandwidth parts that are not part of or that are notincluded in a presently-existing user equipment bandwidth partconfiguration.

Determining that the first criterion is met is indicative of a higherlikelihood or a prediction that the user equipment 101 will depart thegeographic area in which the user equipment 101 is located. Determiningthat the second criterion is met is indicative of a higher likelihood orprediction that the user equipment 101 will enter a different geographicarea than the one in which the user equipment 101 is presently located.

In response to determining that the first criterion and/or the secondcriterion are met, the satellite 100 evaluates whether to change theuser equipment bandwidth part configuration. The satellite 100determines whether the user equipment bandwidth part configuration is tobe reconfigured or modified to include a bandwidth part (orcorresponding satellite beam) and/or remove a bandwidth part. Makingreference to FIG. 7 , the satellite 100 may determine that secondcriterion is met for the fifth geographic area 104 e. Accordingly, thesatellite 100 may reconfigure the user equipment bandwidth partconfiguration to include the fifth bandwidth part 108 e. If the userequipment bandwidth part configuration utilizes all of the number ofbandwidth parts (N), addition of the fifth bandwidth part 108 e isaccompanied by removal of a bandwidth part from the configuration.

The satellite 100 may determine the bandwidth part to remove based onthe position of the user equipment 101. For example, the satellite 100may determine a geographic area that the user equipment 101 is leastlikely to be enter. The satellite 100 may determine, for each geographicarea having a corresponding bandwidth part that is included in theconfiguration, a distance between the position of the user equipment 101and the boundary of the geographic area. The distance is positivelycorrelated with the likelihood that the user equipment 101 will enterthe geographic area. The satellite 100 may determine the geographic areahaving the maximum distance (or is farthest) from the user equipment101, and the satellite 100 may remove the bandwidth part correspondingto the geographic area.

The satellite 100 may determine, among the geographic area having acorresponding bandwidth part that is included in the configuration, ageographic area in which the user equipment 101 spends the fewest amount(or proportion) of time, and the satellite 100 may remove the bandwidthpart corresponding to the geographic area. The satellite 100 maydetermine, among the geographic area having a corresponding bandwidthpart that is included in the configuration, a geographic area in whichthe user equipment 101 traffics the least amount (or proportion) of datain the uplink or downlink, and the satellite 100 may remove thebandwidth part corresponding to the geographic area with the leastamount of data.

The satellite 100 may remove the bandwidth part of a geographic areathat is diametrically opposed to the geographic area that the userequipment 101 is nearing entry. For example, if the user equipment 101is in a proximity of the fifth geographic area 104 e, the satellite 100may remove the bandwidth part of the fourth geographic area 104 d. Ifthe user equipment 101 is in a proximity of the sixth geographic area104 f, the satellite 100 may remove the bandwidth part of the secondgeographic area 104 b.

Reconfiguring the user equipment bandwidth part configuration makes thefifth bandwidth part 108 e of the fifth geographic area 104 e availablefor use by the user equipment 101. The user equipment 101 may switch tothe fifth bandwidth part 108 e (in the fifth geographic area 104 e) asthe active bandwidth part and communicate in the uplink or downlinkusing the fifth bandwidth part 108 e, for example, upon exiting thethird geographic area 104 c and/or entering the fifth geographic area104 e.

The user equipment 101 may have independent bandwidth partconfigurations for the uplink and downlink. The satellite 100 mayreconfigure the user equipment bandwidth part configurations of theuplink and downlink in the same manner or differently. The satellite 100may configure or reconfigure the user equipment bandwidth partconfiguration and bandwidth parts thereof using RRC signaling or L1 DCIsignaling. The satellite 100 may also switchover or change the activebandwidth part of the user equipment 101 using RRC signaling or L1 DCIsignaling. For example, the satellite 100 may use RRC signaling totransmit the bandwidth part configuration to the user equipment 101 anduse L1 DCI signaling to transmit a command to the user equipment 101 tochange the active bandwidth part of the user equipment 101.

The prediction described herein enables the satellite 100 to use RRCsignaling to reconfigure the bandwidth part configuration. RRC signalingmay be slower than L1 DCI signaling. Anticipation of a forthcomingbandwidth part switch permits the satellite 100 and allows time to thesatellite 100 to use a slower signaling technique to reconfigure thebandwidth part configuration. Accordingly, the satellite 100 preparesthe user equipment 101 to switch to a new active bandwidth part. Inresponse to the user equipment 101 transitioning to a new geographicarea covered by a different bandwidth part, the satellite 100 may use afaster signaling technique, such as L1 DCI signaling, to command theuser equipment 101 to switch to the new bandwidth part as the activebandwidth part. The new bandwidth part has been included as a configuredbandwidth part using RRC signaling.

In addition to or in place of using a determined position of the userequipment 101, the satellite 100 may use an estimated future position ofthe user equipment 101 to reconfigure the bandwidth part configuration.The satellite 100 may determine the estimated future position based on acurrent position, speed and/or direction of movement of the userequipment 101. The estimated future position may be a position that theuser equipment 101 is expected to be at a future time point. The futuretime point may be 1, 2 or 5 minutes, among others. The satellite mayidentify geographic areas that the user equipment 101 is likely to enterduring a period of time and reconfigure the bandwidth part configurationto include bandwidth parts corresponding to the geographic areas.

It is noted that the bandwidth part and beam switching and configurationoperations described herein may be performed by the satellite 100 oranother network entity. The satellite 100 may utilize artificialintelligence and machine learning to predict the behavior of the userequipment 101 and optimize the bandwidth part configuration and minimizeRRC signaling for beam switching.

The satellite 100 may maintain statistics of beam switching history anduse the statistics to configure or reconfigure the bandwidth partconfiguration. For example, the statistics may be based on historicalobservations of a time when the user equipment 101 switches activebandwidth parts. The time may be a time of day or day of week, month oryear. The satellite 100 may anticipate that the user equipment 101 willswitch to a new bandwidth part and may reconfigure the bandwidth partconfiguration to include the new bandwidth part.

The satellite 100 may also utilize signal power indicators to configureor reconfigure the bandwidth part configuration. The signal powerindicators may include a signal quality indicator (CQI) or an uplink ordownlink power control signal. The satellite 100 may determine that theuser equipment 101 is at or near an edge of a geographic area if thesignal power indicator is below a threshold. The signal power indicatorsmay also indicate to the satellite 100 a geographic area that the userequipment 101 is likely to enter. Determining that the user equipment101 is at or near the edge may trigger the satellite 100 to reconfigurethe bandwidth part configuration as described herein. The satellite 100may include bandwidth parts of geographic areas in a proximity to theedge.

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram of a method 800 for prediction-basedreconfiguration of the bandwidth part configuration of the userequipment 101. A non-terrestrial network entity, such as the satellite101 operating as a base station or the processor 128 b or controllerthereof described with reference to FIG. 5 , determines a bandwidth partconfiguration for a user equipment 802. The bandwidth part configurationincludes a plurality of bandwidth parts respectively corresponding to aplurality of geographic areas. The non-terrestrial network entity causesthe user equipment to be configured with the bandwidth partconfiguration at 804.

At 806, the non-terrestrial network entity determines a position ormovement of the user equipment in a first geographic area of theplurality of geographic areas. The user equipment uses a first bandwidthpart of the plurality of bandwidth parts corresponding to the firstgeographic area while the user equipment is located in the firstgeographic area. The user equipment receives downlink data or transmitsuplink data over the first bandwidth part.

At 808, the non-terrestrial network entity determines, based on theposition or movement of the user equipment in the first geographic area,whether at least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met. As described herein, the non-terrestrial networkentity may determine whether the user equipment is at an edge of thefirst geographic area and may soon transition to a second geographicarea whose bandwidth part is not among the plurality of bandwidth partsincluded in the bandwidth part configuration for the user equipment.Accordingly, the at least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidthpart configuration is met.

In response to determining that the at least one criterion forreconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met, thenon-terrestrial network entity at 810 reconfigures the bandwidth partconfiguration of the user equipment. The non-terrestrial network entityreconfigures the bandwidth part configuration while the user equipmentis positioned in the first geographic area and before the user equipmentmoves to the second geographic area. Reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration of the user equipment may include modifying the pluralityof bandwidth parts to include a second bandwidth part corresponding tothe second geographic area. The non-terrestrial network entity thentransmits the reconfiguration of the bandwidth part configuration to theuser equipment. For example, the satellite 101 operating as a basestation may utilize the transmitter 122 b described with reference toFIG. 5 to transmit the reconfiguration of the bandwidth partconfiguration to the user equipment.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. These and other changes can be made to theembodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, inthe following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limitthe claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specificationand the claims, but should be construed to include all possibleembodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which suchclaims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by thedisclosure.

1. A non-terrestrial network entity, comprising: a controller configuredto: determine a bandwidth part configuration for a user equipment, thebandwidth part configuration including a plurality of bandwidth partsrespectively corresponding to a plurality of geographic areas; cause theuser equipment to be configured with the bandwidth part configuration;determine a position or movement of the user equipment in a firstgeographic area of the plurality of geographic areas, the firstgeographic area corresponding to a first bandwidth part of the pluralityof bandwidth parts; determine, based on the position or movement of theuser equipment in the first geographic area, whether at least onecriterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met; andin response to determining that the at least one criterion forreconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met, reconfigure thebandwidth part configuration of the user equipment while the userequipment is positioned in the first geographic area, reconfiguring thebandwidth part configuration of the user equipment including: modifyingthe plurality of bandwidth parts to include a second bandwidth partcorresponding to a second geographic area; and a transmitter configuredto transmit the bandwidth part configuration and the reconfiguration ofthe bandwidth part configuration to the user equipment.
 2. Thenon-terrestrial network entity according to claim 1, wherein determiningwhether the at least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met includes: determining whether a first distance fromthe position of the user equipment in the first geographic area to aboundary of the second geographic area is less than a first threshold;and determining that the at least one criterion for reconfiguring thebandwidth part configuration is met in response to determining that thefirst distance from the position of the user equipment in the firstgeographic area to the boundary of the second geographic area is lessthan the first threshold.
 3. The non-terrestrial network entityaccording to claim 1, wherein determining whether the at least onecriterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is metincludes: determining whether a second distance from the position of theuser equipment in the first geographic area to a boundary of the firstgeographic area is less than a second threshold; and determining thatthe at least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met in response to determining that the second distancefrom the position of the user equipment in the first geographic area tothe boundary of the first geographic area is less than the secondthreshold.
 4. The non-terrestrial network entity according to claim 1,wherein the first and second geographic areas are adjacent.
 5. Thenon-terrestrial network entity according to claim 1, wherein thecontroller is configured to: reconfigure the bandwidth partconfiguration of the user equipment while the user equipment ispositioned in the first geographic area using radio resource control(RRC) signaling.
 6. The non-terrestrial network entity according toclaim 5, wherein the controller is configured to: determine to switch anactive bandwidth part of the user equipment from the first bandwidthpart to the second bandwidth part; and send a command to the userequipment to switch the active bandwidth part using downlink controlinformation (DCI).
 7. The non-terrestrial network entity according toclaim 1, wherein the controller is configured to reconfigure thebandwidth part configuration of the user equipment by at least:modifying the plurality of bandwidth parts to remove a third bandwidthpart of the plurality of bandwidth parts.
 8. The non-terrestrial networkentity according to claim 7, wherein the controller is configured todetermine to remove the third bandwidth part of the plurality ofbandwidth parts by at least: determining that, of the plurality ofgeographic areas included in the bandwidth part configuration, theposition of the user equipment is farthest from a boundary of a thirdgeographic area corresponding to the third bandwidth part.
 9. Thenon-terrestrial network entity according to claim 7, wherein thecontroller is configured to determine to remove the third bandwidth partof the plurality of bandwidth parts by at least: determining that, ofthe plurality of geographic areas included in the bandwidth partconfiguration, the user equipment spends a least amount of time, sends aleast amount of uplink data or receives a least amount of downlink datain a third geographic area corresponding to the third bandwidth part.10. A method, comprising: determining a bandwidth part configuration fora user equipment, the bandwidth part configuration including a pluralityof bandwidth parts respectively corresponding to a plurality ofgeographic areas; configuring the user equipment with the bandwidth partconfiguration; determining a position or movement of the user equipmentin a first geographic area of the plurality of geographic areas, thefirst geographic area corresponding to a first bandwidth part of theplurality of bandwidth parts; determining, based on the position ormovement of the user equipment in the first geographic area, whether atleast one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth part configurationis met; and in response to determining that the at least one criterionfor reconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met, reconfiguringthe bandwidth part configuration of the user equipment while the userequipment is positioned in the first geographic area, reconfiguring thebandwidth part configuration of the user equipment including: modifyingthe plurality of bandwidth parts to include a second bandwidth partcorresponding to a second geographic area.
 11. The method according toclaim 10, wherein determining whether the at least one criterion forreconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration is met includes:determining whether a first distance from the position of the userequipment in the first geographic area to a boundary of the secondgeographic area is less than a first threshold; and determining that theat least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met in response to determining that the first distancefrom the position of the user equipment in the first geographic area tothe boundary of the second geographic area is less than the firstthreshold.
 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein determiningwhether the at least one criterion for reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration is met includes: determining whether a second distancefrom the position of the user equipment in the first geographic area toa boundary of the first geographic area is less than a second threshold;and determining that the at least one criterion for reconfiguring thebandwidth part configuration is met in response to determining that thesecond distance from the position of the user equipment in the firstgeographic area to the boundary of the first geographic area is lessthan the second threshold.
 13. The method according to claim 10, whereinthe first and second geographic areas are adjacent.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 10, comprising: reconfiguring the bandwidth partconfiguration of the user equipment while the user equipment ispositioned in the first geographic area using radio resource control(RRC) signaling.
 15. The method according to claim 14, comprising:determining to switch an active bandwidth part of the user equipmentfrom the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part; and sendinga command to the user equipment to switch the active bandwidth partusing downlink control information (DCI).
 16. The method according toclaim 10, wherein reconfiguring the bandwidth part configuration of theuser equipment includes at least: modifying the plurality of bandwidthparts to remove a third bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidthparts.
 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein determining toremove the third bandwidth part of the plurality of bandwidth partsincludes at least: determining that, of the plurality of geographicareas included in the bandwidth part configuration, the position of theuser equipment is farthest from a boundary of a third geographic areacorresponding to the third bandwidth part.
 18. The method according toclaim 16, wherein determining to remove the third bandwidth part of theplurality of bandwidth parts includes at least: determining that, of theplurality of geographic areas included in the bandwidth partconfiguration, the user equipment spends a least amount of time, sends aleast amount of uplink data or receives a least amount of downlink datain a third geographic area corresponding to the third bandwidth part.